The Golden Egg
by Diosa del Amor
Summary: Who is Chasca? Where in the world is Snape? Enjoy and Review.
1. Default Chapter

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Part One - New York New York

Severus Snape had completed the necessary preparations to leave for Hogwarts. His trunk had been sent ahead, so that the house elves could unpack his belongings and prepare his room before he arrived. 

Annoyed that yet another new professor had filled the Defense against the Dark Arts position he desperately coveted, Severus was still anxious to return to Hogwarts. He glanced back at the sprawling manor, then checked his watch. It was time to leave. He waved his wand and recited the incantation that would take him to the gates outside Hogwarts.

There was a loud pop and Severus' feet found solid ground again. He found himself in an alley that he did not recognize, that smelt strongly of urine and garbage. Flies buzzed angrily around a large green trash receptacle that spilled its contents out onto the pavement. Odd symbols and words were scrawled across the brick buildings in brightly colored paints, which Severus mistakenly took for hexes and spells of a nature he had never seen before.

It was only then that he noticed the old woman staring at him, with her hand clasped over her mouth. She was dressed in layers of ragged dirty clothing. 

"Oh my lands!" she exclaimed backing into the shopping cart she'd been pushing. "Oh my aging eyes! You just appeared out of thin air."

Ignoring her Severus waved his wand in the air again. "_Appareo_ Hogwarts!"

Blue wispy smoke streamed from his wand, but he still remained standing in the stinking, dirty alley looking furiously at his traitorous wand. Finally he turned to the woman watching him with rheumy eyes. "Where am I?" he demanded.

"Bedford Avenue," she squeaked, finally removing her hand from her mouth.

"Where?"

"Bedford Avenue," she repeated. "You're in an alleyway between Vinnie's Italian Bistro and Mau Chung's Chinese Eatery. How did you do that?"

"Where?" he asked again, ignoring her question. 

"Bedford Avenue, in an alley…"  
"You said that already!" he snapped at her. "Obviously I'm not in Diagon Alley."

"I don't know of a Diagon Alley," she said slowly shaking her matted gray head.

"Of course not, you're a Muggle! And a vagrant at that!" Severus replied nastily, turning away from her.

"You're a rude young man." The woman turned from him, and began to push her cart down the alleyway, away from him.

_If I can't apparate into Hogwarts, I'll try elsewhere_, he thought then waved his wand into the air a third time. "Appareo Diagon Alley!" he cried. His wand made a loud popping sound and green smoke wafted from the tip, however his location remained the same.

"Damn it!" he swore. His wand had been giving him problems for the past two weeks, like turning his water into bubotuber pus instead of tea, and turning the doxies that recently had taken up residence in his manor into bullfrogs instead of making them disappear. But this was ridiculous!

Furious he turned to the woman again, biting back the anger in his voice he asked her, "Tell me exactly where I am?"

She cackled and continued to shamble out of the alley. "You loonier than old loony bin Bonnie if you don't know you're in New York."

"New York! North America! The United States!" He gaped at her incredulously. "How the hell did I get here?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Like I said you just appeared out of nowhere. 'Course no one believes an old woman like me - they all just jealous that the rats don't want to talk to 'em." The woman continued to mutter to herself as she shuffled out of the alleyway, her tattered slippers scraping on the pavement.

Severus shoved his wand into his pocket and strode out of the alley, looking apprehensively at the darkening sky. 

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Gwen shifted the paper bags in her arm as she pushed the glass door open with her hip. She just lived a couple blocks around the corner and was grateful that she didn't have far to walk. In this city it would take twice as long to drive to the corner grocery store.

An old woman was sitting on the bench, next to a shopping cart, full of rags and tin cans. An old gray rat was sitting hunched over on her lap, munching on a piece of stale bread. The rat turned its head to look at Gwen with beady black eyes and wiped at its straggly whiskers with a paw.

"Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, you ever hear such rubbish," the old lady muttered to the rat. "They say Bonnie needs to go to a home. I tell you that there are crazy things in this town, but they don't want to hear them from me. You always listen."

Gwen stopped walking and turned toward the old lady.

"Miss, can you spare a dime? Please help an old homeless lady." The old lady called out to her.

Gwen handed her a dollar. "Uh, what's your rat's name?"

The rat squeaked then ran up the length of the old lady's arm and disappeared inside her ragged jacket.

The old lady grinned, exposing rotted teeth. "Oh, he's shy. He hasn't told me his name, yet."

"What was that you were saying about Hogwarts and Diagon Alley?" Gwen asked.

The old lady heaved herself out of the bench as though to leave. "It's rude to listen in on other people's conversations. Besides no one ever believes old loony bin Bonnie."

"I'll give you another dollar." Gwen reached inside her pocket and pulled out another bill. "Tell me what you know about Hogwarts and Diagon Alley."

The old woman grabbed the bill from Gwen's hand, then sat back down on the bench. "I sure am hungry," she said glancing at the bags Gwen was holding.

Gwen thrust an apple into her grimy hand. "Now, please, tell me what you know?"

"I don't know nothing about Diagon Alley or Hogwarts," the old woman replied taking a bite out of the apple and chewed noisily. "All I know is that this strange fellow dressed all in black just appeared out of thin air. I think he was a magician of sorts, an' I think he was trying to go there."

Gwen's eyes bulged out of her sockets and her jaw hung open.

"Oh, I knew you wouldn't believe me. No one believes a poor old woman."

"No, no I believe you. Where did this man go?"

"I don't know. Unpleasant sort if you ask me. Mean eyes." The old lady smacked her lips. "Say can I have another apple?" 

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"Mom is gonna be so pissed!" Chasca ran to her mother's bedroom and pulled out an elaborately carved wooden box from under the bed. She took out the slender wand and spell book she found there and raced back into the living room. She opened the book and flipped through the pages.

"Okay, here it goes. _Reparo_!" She pointed the wand at the broken lamp on the floor as the book instructed. The broken pieces moved back together as though pushed by an invisible hand. Breathing a sigh of relief, Chasca picked up the repaired lamp and replaced it on the table.

Her mother's key clinked in the lock just as Chasca emerged from her mother's bedroom where she returned the book and wand.

"Help me with the groceries," Gwen said handing her daughter a large brown paper bag. Suddenly she spied the blue rubber ball lying on the floor in the living room. "Chasca, have you been throwing your ball around inside, again?"

"No, Mom," Chasca lied sheepishly.

"How many times have I told you to _not_ throw your ball around in the apartment? You are going to break something!"

"Okay, Mom, I wont do it again," Chasca promised and followed her mother into the kitchen.

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	2. The Owl and the Dementor

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter books or any of the characters associated with J.K. Rowlings' books. I do own the characters Chasca, Gwen, the three boys mentioned later in this chapter, and the plot. Please review.  
  
Thanks. La Diosa.  
  
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The Owl  
  
There was a fluttering sound outside the window, like tree branches scraping against the glass. When Gwen threw up the sash the gray spotted owl flew into the room. She gasped in surprise as the bird circled around her head, dropped the rolled parchment onto the floor and settled on the sill.  
  
"How did they find me?" She wondered aloud as she bent to gingerly pick up the parchment. She broke the wax seal with her fingernail and unrolled the paper. Her eyes grew wider with each word she read. "Oh my," she said.  
  
"Mom, what is that?" Chasca pointed at the owl.  
  
"That's an owl dear," Gwen replied not looking up from the scroll. Her brow furrowed deeper as she continued to read.  
  
"I know it's an owl. What's it doing here?"  
  
The owl blinked at Chasca with huge, yellow eyes.  
  
Gwen sighed and looked at her daughter carefully. "That's a messenger owl from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You have been accepted into the finest wizard academy in Europe."  
  
"Hogwarts? Europe?" Chasca shook her head. Her mother was talking nonsense, but the serious look on her face told Chasca that this wasn't a joke.  
  
The owl hooted and ruffled its wings.  
  
"What does it want?" Chasca asked looking at her mother.  
  
"He's waiting for a response from me." Gwen took out a pen and note pad from her purse and scribbled a quick note. She folded the paper a couple times and held it out to the bird. The owl hooted once more, took the note in its beak and flew out the window. She turned to face her bewildered daughter.  
  
"What the."  
  
"Chasca, sit down. We need to have a talk." Gwen interrupted and motioned toward the sofa. Chasca obediently sat down, her dark eyes staring out the open window.  
  
"Over the last six months you've noticed changes happening, right?" Gwen asked.  
  
Chasca started at her mother blankly.  
  
"I'm referring to the new skills you're developing, the ones I told you not to show off to your friends."  
  
"Oh you mean this one." Chasca made a twisting motion in the air with her hand and the lamp next to the couch turned off and then on again.  
  
"Yes, please don't do that right now; it's disarming. I wasn't sure at first . I guess I'm trying to say I wanted to wait and see." Gwen took a deep breath then continued. "The truth is that you are a witch and there is a school for children like you in England." Gwen sank down on the chair next to the couch and held her head in her hands.  
  
"I'm a witch? There are other kids like me?"  
  
Gwen nodded. "I went to Hogwarts as a child. It is an excellent school, and it's a privilege to be accepted there."  
  
"You're a witch too?"  
  
"Yes. And your grandmother and her mother and so as far back as the family name can be traced most of my family members were witches and wizards."  
  
"What about my father?" Chasca thought suddenly of the man she hardly knew. His dark face was a blur, a memory obscured in shadows.  
  
"Chasca, when the time comes, I will tell you about your father." Gwen's face was set in a grim expression and Chasca knew there wouldn't be any further discussions on that subject. "Tomorrow evening we are going to meet with the Headmaster Dumbledore."  
  
"We are? Where?"  
  
"We are going to meet him at Hogwarts."  
  
"I thought you said Hogwarts is in England?"  
  
"It is, but we're only staying a short time. We're going to apparate there."  
  
"Apparate?"  
  
"You'll see what I mean." A peculiar smile appeared on Gwen's face.  
  
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The Punks and the Dementor  
  
Severus Snape was fuming as he walked the two blocks from the alley where he appeared. He was in New York, he knew that much. How did he end up here? Who brought him here? He had apparated numerous times before and never appeared in a place that he didn't intend. Someone deliberately interfered with his spell and brought him here, far away from Hogwarts. A tight, grim smile flickered across his face as he contemplated the revenge he would seek on the perpetrator.  
  
"What 'ave we 'ere?" a thick voice interrupted Severus' thoughts.  
  
Severus turned on his heel and faced three rough, teenaged boys, huddled by the brick wall.  
  
Despite the warm evening, the stocky boy was wearing a black, leather jacket. "Nice dress, man!" he snickered and the other two guffawed.  
  
The tall boy with gaunt, angular features staggered up to him. "Gimme a buck, man?" Snape smelled cheap whiskey on his breath.  
  
Snape stepped back from him. "No. I haven't got any money."  
  
"Whadja mean you don't have any money?" The boy fingered Snape's woolen, black robe. "My buddy, Joe, over there hasn't eaten in days." He jerked his thumb over at the smallest of the three, who stuffed his hands in his pockets and sneered.  
  
Snape stepped around him. "I don't have any money," he repeated and reached in his pocket, curling his fingers around his wand. "Now leave me alone."  
  
"Gimme your wallet." The boy grabbed a handful of Snape's robe.  
  
Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it at the boy. The boy let go of Snape's robe and held his hands in the air in mock terror. "Oh, he's got a stick. I'm scared." He smirked.  
  
"Conjunctiva." Snape said calmly.  
  
The boy threw his hands up to his face. "I can't see! I'm blinded!"  
  
The boy in the black jacket rushed over to his friend. "Scott, man, what happened?"  
  
"I don't know! I can't see anything!" Scott was bent over, covering his face with his hands. "It stings like a sonofabitch!"  
  
"He'll be fine in half an hour," Snape replied still holding his wand out. He was surprised that the spell worked considering that his earlier attempts at apparating failed.  
  
"What the hell did you do to my brother?" The boy in the jacket lunged at him, planting a well-placed punch in Snape's abdomen.  
  
The air exploded out of Snape's lungs and he doubled over clutching his stomach. He pointed the wand at his assailant. "Conjunctiva!" he cried grasping for air.  
  
"Argh!" The second boy cried out, clawing at his eyes.  
  
Snape turned to face the third boy clutching his wand with white, shaking hands. Joe held his hands out before him as though to ward off any spells. "Don't!" he pleaded. "We were just having some fun Mister!"  
  
"Fun! You call that fun!" Snape roared advancing on the cowering boy.  
  
"I'm s . s . sorry!" The small boy pressed his back into the brick wall.  
  
Just then there was a scraping sound, like something metal dragging over the pavement. Snape turned toward the sound and his eyes widened at the towering black figure floating toward them. A pale, scabbed hand reached out from under its robe and a dry rattle sounded in its throat.  
  
"Why is it so cold?" Scott looked around sightlessly. He sank down to the ground and wrapped his arms around his knees. "It's so cold and dark and . and hopeless." Hot, silent tears slid down his cheeks and he began to rock back and forth.  
  
The boy in the black jacket shivered in spite of the warm, summer evening. He continued to claw at his eyes, leaving red scratch marks on his face. "Why is everything so dark? Make the screaming stop! No, I don't want to think about that!"  
  
Snape stepped away from Joe and held his wand out toward the dementor. The creature seemed to grow larger and block out the sky. Snape felt it trying to invade his mind, slithering around his thoughts like a snake, and he cleared his mind. "Expecto patronum," he said softly closing his eyes.  
  
A giant, silvery snake slithered from his wand. Its undulating body coiled around his feet then slid silently toward the dementor, a silvery tongue flicked from its triangular head. It reared up and bared it fangs, hissing violently at the cloaked figure.  
  
The dementor's shrieks sent chills crawling up Snape's back. It wrapped its black, frayed cloak around his skeletal body and disappeared.  
  
"What was that?" Joe's breath came out in quick gasps.  
  
"That was a dementor. I'm surprised you were able to see it." Snape turned toward the boy with his wand still clutched in his shaking hand.  
  
"A . a dementor?"  
  
Snape rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How old are you?" he asked, raking his eyes over the small, shaking form of the boy.  
  
"Fifteen." He answered quickly and his eyes darted around the empty street.  
  
"Do you live around here?" Snape asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Joe took one step away from the wall and turned to run, but Snape grabbed his shirt collar. "Oh, God! Please don't kill me!" The boy bawled and kicked out at him.  
  
"I'm not going to kill you, silly boy. I just want some answers." Snape held him out at arm's length.  
  
Joe stopped struggling. "I don't know anything. I was just hanging out with my pals and then you came along. We were only fooling around. Scott wasn't going to really take your wallet."  
  
"What do you know about the dementor? Why were you able to see it?" Snape shook him furiously with each word.  
  
"I don't know anything about dementors. Is that what that thing was? I've never seen anything like it before or felt so scared in my life." He looked up at Snape like a frightened animal.  
  
Snape released his hold and Joe fell back against the wall. "So you know nothing." He crossed his arms and glowered down at the boy.  
  
"No, I swear! Please just let us go!"  
  
"Before I do that, I must erase your memory and your friends' memories of myself and everything that happened here." Snape pointed his wand to the boy's head and uttered the spell that would erase his memory of the past hour. Joe's eyes glazed over. Snape walked over to the two boys and touched his wand to their heads and repeated the spell.  
  
Joe felt groggy, as though he was waking up from a long afternoon nap. He found himself standing with his back pressed against a brick wall. Scott and his brother were squatting on the pavement and rubbing their eyes. Scott looked up at him blinking his pink and swollen eyes. A strange man was quickly walking away from them, his long, black cloak billowing behind him. 


End file.
